Swords, Snow and Stark
by N.S.Bennett
Summary: When Robb Stark befriends the blacksmith's granddaughter, he doesn't realise how deep friendship can be rooted in your blood and the lengths he will go to so he can stay with her. Robb StarkXOC (follows the book but with the TV show ages)
1. Chapter 1

"Cassie? For the Old God's sake, where is that girl?" Mikken asked, looking around the smithy.  
"I'm here." She said, popping her head around the rack of swords.  
"Come here and see what Master Robb wants." Mikken said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. Cassie nodded and ran to the front of the shop.

"How can I help you?" A girl's voice startled Robb into turning around so he was facing the smithy. He was surprised to see a young woman who was no more than a year younger than him standing there. Her face was sweaty and dusted with ash but her sea green eyes shone out at him.  
"It's my sword." Robb said, regaining his senses, and pulled it out of it's sheath. "I think it's gone a bit… blunt."  
Cassie smiled. "Yes it has a bit hasn't it?" She said before holding her hand out for it. Her hands, although they were small, were dirty and calloused. "I'll fix that up for you." She said as she took it and walked back into the smithy.  
"Extraordinary isn't she?" Mikken said, judging Robb's expression with a smile. "She's been working in the smithy since she was younger than your sister Arya. She has this talent with metalwork. She can manipulate it in any way she wants." Robb watched her over Mikken's shoulder as she worked on his sword. Her movements were as elegant as Sansa's when the Stark girl sewed. It was strange that she could make something as unfeminine as blacksmith work so completely feminine. She finished up and tossed the sword from hand to hand, checking it from all angles before walking back out to the front.  
"Here you go, my lord." She smiled, presenting him with his sword.  
"Thank you so much." Robb answered as he took it before handing her two silver coins.  
"Thank you." Cassie answered but Robb had already left.


	2. Chapter 2

Ned watched from the balcony above the stables as Robb talked to the girl from the blacksmith. He seemed quite taken with her; he had been talking to her more and more often over the past two moons.  
"Who is Robb speaking to?" Catelyn asked from beside him.  
"Cassianna I believe her name is. She's Mikken's granddaughter."  
"And she works in the smithy?" Catelyn asks.  
"She's a hard worker. Skilled at metal work and she has a strength that no woman – let alone a girl her age – should have. She's smart too."  
"You've done your research." Catelyn said.  
"I take an interest in all the comings and goings of our children. Especially when they involve the opposite sex." Ned and Catelyn smiled at each other and looked back at the young couple as they spoke again. Cassianna reached up on tiptoe and kissed Robb on the cheek before ducking back into the smithy. Robb blushed, staring in the direction that Cassianna had just left in. "Well, that's new."

The Starks were eating dinner together and Catelyn was feeling welcome enough to allow Jon to sit with them. There wasn't much talking except for the odd mention about the weather and the summer snows.  
"You seemed to have made friends with Mikken's granddaughter Robb." Ned said suddenly and everyone looked up at the oldest Stark son as he blushed slightly. "Cassianna."  
"Cassie." Robb corrected quickly before blushing even more deeply. Ned and Catelyn exchanged a look.  
"She seems like a nice young woman." Catelyn said.  
"Best person I've ever met." Robb said, more to his dinner plate than his parents. He looked up and looked at his youngest sister. "You'd like her Arya. She works in the smithy all day long, making swords and hammers, axes and armour." Robb smiled as his little sister's eyes lit up with wonder.  
"She sounds savage." Sansa said.  
"She sounds smart." Theon said harshly.  
"She sounds strong." Bran interjected. "Is she very strong Robb?"  
"Very. She asked me to test a war hammer the other day. I had to use two hands to lift it and she only used one." Robb blushed again. "I'd never felt so inferior to a woman in my life. She laughed and said that we can't all be like King Robert. So then I laughed and it just made me feel better. Like the whole thing with the hammer hadn't happened." He shook his head. "It was bizarre." Ned smiled at Catelyn who responded with a knowing look. "I'm going to see her tomorrow. She offered to teach me how to make a sword."

"It's definite. He's in love with her." Ned said as he and Catelyn prepared for bed. "He wouldn't willingly skip a meeting to spend time with a girl he's made friends with."  
"He's supposed to go to a meeting tomorrow? Ned, why didn't you say?"  
"He looked too happy at just the thought of being with her." Ned smiled as he shook his head. "I decided to leave him be."  
"He won't be happy he forgot the meeting."  
"Leave him be." Ned said, pulling his wife to him and kissing her on the mouth. "I want to see how things pan out between them."


	3. Chapter 3

Cassie laughed as she watched Robb hammer at the metal. "No, try relaxing your shoulders." She said pressing down on them and he loosened his shoulders up. "If you hammer the metal too hard it will dent and be useless." She explained. He looked at her in exhaustion. "Don't give up Robb. You're doing well."  
"How did you manage this when you were eight?"  
"It was difficult but I learnt. You have to be patient. It takes time." She said. "Let me see." He stopped hammering and let her look. "This is good. Let's move on to the next step."

Ned grinned to himself as he heard Cassie laugh again. He had not-so-subtly been watching the pair from across the way, leaning against the wall. Jory came and stood beside him.  
"What is going on in there my Lord?" Jory asked.  
"Mikken's granddaughter, Cassianna, is teaching Robb to make a sword."  
"How is it going?"  
"Not too badly it seems." Ned said when the laughter of both young children came from the forge. "Not too bad at all."  
"I know Cassianna." Jory said suddenly. "Her mother was a childhood friend of my sister's. Sweet girl, headstrong and determined. A damn good fighter given a sword and a chance."  
"She can swing a sword?"  
"Of course she can. I taught her myself." Jory said. "She's my goddaughter."  
Ned looked at his old friend. "I didn't know."  
"Not many people do. I'd prefer to keep it that way. But if Robb wishes to court her, send him to me."  
"You'll set him straight."  
"Of course." Jory said and Ned chuckled. "We've got a meeting to get to."

Robb chuckled as he and Cassie sat on the floor in the workshop and shared some crusty bread and cheese. "I can barely hold my arms up." He said as they ate. "How can you do this all day?"  
"You don't notice it after nearly ten years." She smiled as she bit into a piece of bread. "I started off making the wooden swords you used for practise when you were a boy."  
"I didn't know you made them."  
Cassie shrugged. "It's my job. As I got older, I got to work with metal."  
"Do you know anything about sword fighting?"  
"Jory's taught me a thing or two."  
"Jory?"  
"He's a friend of the family. Grandfather prefers it if I stay in the shop."  
"Why?"  
"You ask a lot of questions." Cassie smiled. "I suppose he's scared I'll be sold to a slaver or roped into being one of the girls from the whorehouse. He's very protective."  
"Are you telling me that because it's important?" Robb asked.  
"Maybe." Cassie gave him a secretive smile and he shoved her shoulder. She shoved his back and they got into a wrestling match on the smith shop floor.

"Pinned ya." Cassie smiled, straddling Robb, her hands pinning his arms above his head. Robb smiled before rolling her over and smiling down at her.  
"Pinned ya." He repeated and she giggled. Robb chuckled and looked into her eyes. They were shining and beautiful and inviting. He bent his head and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. Cassie was unmoving underneath him and Robb pulled his head back to look at her. Her eyes were closed but she slowly opened them as his lips left hers. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you."  
"Offend me? With a kiss?" She asked and they sat up, facing each other. "Robb, you are too wonderful to do that."  
"You think I'm wonderful?" Robb asked and Cassie reached out and cupped his cheek with her callused hand.  
"I know you are." She whispered, placing her other hand on the back of his head, her fingers looping into his reddish-brown ringlets. She leant forward and kissed him again.


End file.
